Jan 13, 2013--Displacement Cleaning

Two trees down, two to go . . . plus the mantel(s), staircase and kitchen décor.  Anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the post-Christmas un-decorating process?

I’ve been using the fact that my husband was gone during the holidays to justify my leisurely approach to returning the house to its pre-Christmas blah-ness, but (if you’ve been a faithful reader) you know this is my perennial lament.  I really like my house decorated for the holidays.  I like the glow of the lights from the trees and staircase.  In fact, as I write this I am sitting in an otherwise dark room—the only illumination being my computer screen and our Christmas tree.  I love it and hate to see it go, but go it must, because I am also disconcerted by the furnishings and art work the Christmas paraphernalia displaces.

I’m ready to return my treasured art, created by local artist Billy Renkl, to its place of prominence on the wall which is currently blocked by a 9 foot artificial tree.  I am ready to have the table, which belongs in the same general area, back in place—to reload it with the “moments in time” we have captured and framed; to slide the vintage chest into place and re-stack my collection of magazines.  And that is just one 3 square foot area!

So, you see, it is not as though I will be de-cluttering the house in order to return it to some minimalist domicile; nope—never been accused of being a minimalist.  What I actually do is displacement cleaning and arranging.  By “displacement” I am referring to the physics definition; in the end, there will be the same amount of stuff, it’ll just be redistributed. 

Now, wait a minute, didn’t I just write a column about celebrating my minor successes?  Indeed I did.  I need to give myself some credit for off-loading at least a year’s worth of magazines (just one title—kept the other three, of course).  I’ve even allowed two of my subscriptions to lapse; the counter balance to this effort is, however, the fact that I’ve subscribed to a new magazine.  I will end up with a net of -1, which is, in this case, desirable.   

Regardless, by the time you read this, I hope to have packed away the family tree ornaments, but as I am still in the planning stages of this action, I need to let you know something—that way I’m more likely to do it.  This year, I am packing all of the ornaments the kids have been given over the years, into their own boxes, where they will stay until they have trees of their own.  I decided that this is the year to do it because I am starting to forget which ornament belongs to whom.  (We’re talking about a lot of ornaments—collectively, a minimum of 52—that’s allowing for gifts from relatives.)  I feel awful if/when they break.  I’d rather go ahead and put them away now, so they can break them on their own in their future homes.  So, with some help identifying each designated ornament, they will go into boxes, marked with their names, until they claim them for their own holiday celebrations.

You realize, of course, this means I’ll need more ornaments for next Christmas.